WIU keeps tourney hopes alive

Saturday

The Western Illinois women's soccer team struck three times in the first 26 minutes to take down Summit League opponent IPFW by a 3-2 score on Friday.
Nora Potempa's goal in the 26th minute gave the Fighting Leathernecks (7-7-2, 4-3-1 Summit League) an early 3-0 lead, which proved to be the game-winner.
Miranda Graham found Potempa with a pass from the right corner and Potempa ripped a shot into the top right corner of the net to push Western's lead to three.
"The ball that Nora hit was an absolute rocket," Western Illinois head coach Tony Guinn said. "She had a very good day with a great goal and a really good corner kick to Jennifer Green later on."
The Leathernecks would score twice more in the first 26 minutes. Kellie Julius scored the first goal of the match at the 10 minute mark by knocking in a rebound from Abby Davis' shot.
Western would scored again at the 16:34 mark when Green knocked home a shot off Potempa's corner kick to push the lead to 2-0.
Despite an early deficit, IPFW would storm back with two goals in the 28th minute. Ali Okihiro's goal at the 28:21 mark cut Western's lead to two goals and Lisa Underwood's goal just 32 seconds later pulled the Mastodons (4-11-1, 3-5-0 Summit League) within one.
"IPFW didn't give up today," Guinn said. "They played really hard and it paid off for them in that stretch. Any time you score two goals in less than a minute it can change the game. I was happy to see our girls respond well and really lock it down the rest of the game."
Neither team was able to find the net in the final 71 minutes of the match, although both teams had chances to score. IPFW nearly tied the match in the 67th minute, but a shot by Brittany Clemons rang off the post.
The Leathernecks had two more chances to extend their lead in 72nd and 74th minutes. Ali Smyth's shot at the 71:09 mark caught the crossbar and bounced over the net while Potempa's shot at the 73:09 mark bounced off the post.
"We had some really great chances out there today," Guinn said. "We capitalized really early and then had a chance to extend the lead late but we just got some bad bounces."
The Leathernecks held Lisa Underwood, the league's leading goal scorer, to just three shots in the match. In their last three matches, Western has faced three of the league's top seven scorers and allowed just one goal to those players.
"Caitlin Barrett has had the job of marking the other team's best player for three straight matches now," Guinn said. "She's been absolutely fantastic against three of the top players in our league. I've been really impressed with her poise out there."
Laura Atkinson made seven saves to pick up her fourth win of the season. Both teams finished with 16 shots, though IPFW had a nine to seven advantage in shots on goal.
Western Illinois committed eight fouls to IPFW's five and took eight corner kicks to the Mastodons four.
Western was helped in the match by a great show of support as 300 people were in attendance.
"It was great to have all those people there," Guinn said. "We owe a lot to them for providing us with a great atmosphere and giving us a big boost. Our fans were great today and we're very thankful for that."
The Leathernecks will face Oakland at 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 1 with a chance to qualify for The Summit League Tournament.
"It goes without saying that this was a big game," Guinn said. "The momentum we have going has been a big key to our success. At this point in the season there's really very little you can do as a coach, the team knows exactly what they need to do.”

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